Who will it be?

Doug Haller: When practice opens in two months, sophomores Mike Bercovici and Taylor Kelly, along with redshirt freshman Michael Eubank, will resume a battle to become Arizona State's next starting quarterback.

Despite their inexperience, first-year coach Todd Graham is impressed with all three. Still, he wants one to seize the opportunity, to step up to the challenge. Who will it be? We likely won't find out until August.

Until then, let's find out more about the trio. I recently sat down with Bercovici, Eubank and Kelly to discuss the position and their experiences.

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Watch and learn

All three of you had great high school careers. The ball was in your hands every play. Then you came here and had to watch and wait your turn. How hard was that?

Bercovici: "Being on the sideline, you learn a lot, especially because in this conference a lot of the older players get a chance to play. So you take that year or two, whatever it is, to watch everything from the fans to the noise to how people respond to adversity. It's just really humbling to see what you're getting yourself into the next couple years, and how extreme it is."

Eubank: "It was really different being the guy around the city that everybody knows. Everyone's on your back (saying), 'You're the man.' Then you come to a whole new city around a whole bunch of new people and you hear, 'You're going to redshirt. You're going to sit out.' At first I didn't really like it, but once I realized what it could do for me, I accepted it."

Kelly: "It was good to watch Brock (Osweiler) last year. He'd come off the field and we would talk about his decision-making on a play. We'd have the same thoughts, we'd have different thoughts, but just that kind of communication was helpful."

Dave Seibert/The Arizona Republic

A new approach

Last year you learned one system. This year you're running another. That's not exactly ideal. How did you approach it?

Bercovici: "I remember talking to Brock and he said he went through like nine different playbooks while he was here. But learning from (former offensive coordinator Noel) Mazzone and bringing that into what (offensive coordinator Mike) Norvell and Coach Graham have taught us has made me a better quarterback. I'm doing a lot of stuff this year I haven't done in my previous football years. This change, it suits all of our assets in different ways."

Eubank: "I don't think the offense has changed that much because we have some of the same formations, kind of the same concepts, kind of the same plays, but the tempo has definitely changed and what they expect from us has changed a lot."

Kelly: "The expectations of the team, the discipline aspect, that's different. But like (Bercovici) said, you take what you learned from the old offense and (apply) it to the new offense."

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Experience overrated?

Not one of you has started a game in college. But here's the thing: Last year Osweiler went from two career starts to second-round NFL draft pick. Over the last three seasons, first-year quarterbacks have led teams to national championships. That begs the question: Is starting experience overrated?

Eubank: "Everybody's attitude on the field is very different in a game situation. The crowd is different, the atmosphere is different. It's something you need as a quarterback. Knowing what's going on, knowing that you've already been through it. Experience is definitely key."

Kelly: "Experience is huge. Game-time situations are a lot different than what you go through in practice."

Bercovici: "I feel like the biggest difference between us and a four-year starter is the pregame, the buildup before the game, (dealing with) the media, sitting at your locker, the bus ride. And also when you got two minutes left and you're in field goal range and you take a long sack instead of throwing it out of bounds. I feel like those are differences. We're all confident in our ability. We've been working on the offense long enough. We know what to do on 3rd-and-2. ... To me, the biggest differences are the tiny things."

David Wallace/The Arizona Republic

Most important quality?

What's the most important quality in a quarterback?

Kelly: "Leadership. You need the team to follow you."

Eubank: "Leadership is definitely big, but I think you also have to have heart. Showing your team that you're fearless and that you'll go up against anything and everything. Knowing that you have their back will make them want to have your back."

Bercovici: "We're all young quarterbacks and we're going to be playing against fifth-year seniors, so I think it's just being confident and poised and emotional. I feel like we're all emotional in different ways. And at this level, your team can feed off that. We learned that from Brock. Good or bad, you have to be the same person, but there are times when you have to rally the troops by your emotion."

David Wallace/The Arizona Republic

Stick with the play

As a young quarterback, how hard is it to be patient in the pocket? To not give up on a play and go through your reads?

Bercovici: "It starts with our feet. You can pull the trigger whenever you want, but having the discipline in your feet and trusting the offense are key. I know sometimes in spring ball when we didn't have too much knowledge of the offense, it showed. That's what we're working on over the summer, our footwork. That's one of the biggest differences between this year and last year. We have three different types of drops and we all know what to do on each drop, according to our reads. That's where our patience comes from. That's where our confidence and poise in the pocket comes from."

Eubank: "As long as you know the offense, you know where your read is going to be, where your secondary person is, where your third person is. If you're a young quarterback and you don't know the offense very well, you get antsy in the pocket and if your first read is not there, you're like, 'All right, I got to do something, I got to go.'''

Kelly: "Repetition is huge, just going out there in practice and going through each read just helps you slow down the game and understand the offense a lot better."

David Wallace/The Arizona Republic

Who's your inspiration?

Which NFL quarterbacks do you like to watch?

Eubank: "I like Peyton Manning a lot. I'm originally from Indianapolis so that's why I wear (number) 18. Obviously, his knowledge of the game, just knowing what's going to happen before it happens, has always amazed me. I also like Cam Newton because of his running ability. When things break down, his legs can get him out of trouble."

Kelly: "Tom Brady. His college career didn't go how he wanted it to, but he fought through adversity to get to where he is. On the field, he can tell the defense where he's going to throw the ball and still complete it, he knows the defenses that well."

Bercovici: "Drew Brees, just because I picture myself on the field when he's out there. We're both undersized, pocket quarterbacks. I watch his feet, his movement in the pocket and the way he never takes sacks. Sometimes I don't even care where the ball goes. And like Taylor, I love watching Tom Brady, too, because there could be a hurricane around him and it doesn't seem to bother him."

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The learning curve

What's something you've learned in college that you wish you would've known in high school?

Kelly: "Understanding defenses. That's what you learn from watching film, just seeing how they line up and (identifying) certain coverages."

Eubank: "In high school I paid attention to the (defensive) front. I didn't pay attention to the safety or nothing like that. So knowing how to read defenses. Knowing about footwork. That's huge. I also wish I had the speed I have now in high school because if I did, we would just rip it. We would tear it up."

Bercovici: "One of the biggest differences from high school to college is understanding protection. Jimmy Clausen used to mentor me when I was young and he told me when he went to Notre Dame he got a list of protections this big. He said that was immediately the biggest difference from high school, besides the speed and everything else. So I feel like if I would've understood protection a little better ... I could've been that much more successful."